She stumbled toward me, barely steady on her feet, and raised her hand to slap me.

"What do you think you're doing?" she snapped. "Who gave you the nerve to treat Nolan like that?

"If you want to break up, then break up. There are plenty of better girls out there. You… who do you think you are?"

My cheek burned. The pain was sharp and immediate.

My eyes stung as I lifted my hand to slap her back. However, before I could, Nolan grabbed my wrist and shoved me away. My lower back slammed into the doorknob, and pain shot through my whole body.

He pulled Silvia behind him, shielding her. There was irritation in his eyes. "She's drunk. Why are you arguing with someone who's wasted?

"Just go outside and cool off," he added. "We'll talk about it tomorrow."

I stared at him in disbelief. The way he spoke so calmly made it feel like I was nothing to him, just someone unimportant.

However, he did not look at me again. Instead, he lowered his voice and started comforting Silvia, who was still acting out from being drunk.

All his patience, all his gentleness, was for her.

I clenched my hands so tightly my nails dug into my palms, then I grabbed my suitcase and walked out.

After checking into a hotel room, I did not fall asleep until almost dawn.

When I woke up, my phone was flooded with messages.

Some were just the usual prank messages people sent on April Fools' Day, but most were from coworkers and friends asking why I had not shown up to work. Some were curious, even excited, wondering if I had some kind of good news to share.

My chest tightened.

I sent a quick reply saying we had broken up, but I felt drained down to my bones.

The notifications kept coming.

Some people thought I was joking, some said it was impossible, while others told me not to overreact just because I did not get a proposal.

From their perspective, Nolan was gentle, steady, and the kind of man who always had everything under control. The kind of good man one would rarely find.

What they did not know was that this same man had once set up what looked like a romantic proposal scene on our fourth anniversary, only so I would let my guard down. Then his childhood friend showed up with a real snake to scare me.

On our fifth anniversary, he even used a prank ring she prepared to "propose" to me.

I ended up getting my finger caught in a trap mechanism. I spent the whole night going back and forth between the ER and treatment rooms. I almost lost that finger.

Yes, he was good at cleaning up the aftermath.

It was just that the person he protected was never me.

Back then, I kept ignoring all the things that felt wrong. I told myself over and over that aside from Silvia, he was actually good to me.

However, now that I was finally thinking clearly, I understood something I had avoided for far too long. Even if this relationship had led to a real proposal, it never would have had a future.

I let out a bitter laugh and opened social media out of habit.

My feed was filled with their prank posts. The most eye-catching one was a full set of photos Silvia had just uploaded. Nolan was with her at the movies, at a claw machine, playing arcade games.

Even before, he would spend April Fools' Day with Silvia first, and then come celebrate our anniversary with me.

However, he had never once taken me to do any of those things. He always said those activities were for younger couples, that they were a waste of time and not meaningful. He said it was better to do something simple, like making things at home or watching a movie together.

I thought that was just him being mature, so I pushed down all the little, naive wishes I had about being in my first relationship.

Now, looking at the carefree smile on his face in those photos, I finally understood.

It was not that those things were boring. It was that doing them with me was boring.

The comments were full of people saying how perfect they looked together. All our mutual friends had liked the post. The number of likes was even higher than when we had first announced our relationship.

I was just about to close the app when a message popped up.

It was from Nolan.

[Don't get the wrong idea, I just took her out to relax. If you have time, come back. She said she wants to apologize to you.]

I frowned and was about to reply that there was no need.

Then a delivery notification suddenly popped up.

I tapped it open. It was the anniversary gift I had ordered earlier.

The address was still set to the apartment.

I hesitated for a moment. It was time to make things clear and I still needed to return the key.

At the very least, we should end things properly.

I packed up quickly and headed over.

However, the moment I stepped through the door, a splash of liquid with a sharp, stinging smell poured down over me.

My skin started to burn.

"Surprise! Happy April Fools' Day!"

Before I could even open my eyes, Silvia rushed over.

She grabbed a makeup wipe and started scrubbing my face hard, dragging it back and forth.

The burning grew worse. It came with a crawling, biting itch that spread across my skin, so intense that it felt like my face was being torn apart.

I shoved her away.

Instinctively, I reached up to scratch my face, but the second my fingers touched my skin, a sharp, piercing pain shot through me.

"I… I can't… my face… what did you put on me?"

Coughing, I could barely get the words out.

Nolan rushed over and grabbed my hand, his voice tight with anger. "You said it was just makeup remover. How is she having such a severe allergic reaction?"

Silvia froze for a second, her face flushed red. "I… how was I supposed to know? I just grabbed something randomly."

She bit her lip, then snapped back defensively. "Besides, I've never liked that fake innocent look she always puts on. Standing next to me, it just looks worse. You said it yourself that it didn't look good, which is why you agreed to let me mess with her, right?"

My whole body started trembling. My limbs felt numb, and even breathing became difficult.

"So that's why you were so willing to let her 'apologize' to me," I forced out, my voice shaking. "Nolan… you don't deserve a clean breakup."

Gritting my teeth through the pain, I staggered toward the sink, trying to wash my face.

However, I had barely taken a step when everything went blurry.

"Whitney, don't scare me!"

When I woke up again, it was already evening. The pain I felt in my face was still intense.

Through the haze of being rushed to the hospital, I vaguely remembered someone saying my chin and the right side of my face had been cut and needed stitches.

As I shifted slightly, Nolan, who had been sitting by my bed, woke up.

"Whitney, you're finally awake. You scared me to death," he said quickly. "The doctor said you came into contact with an allergenic disinfectant and went into anaphylactic shock."

He leaned closer, speaking fast. "She really wanted to apologize to you. You know how she is, stubborn and all. Some things she did might have gone too far, but she didn't mean it. Don't be mad, okay?"

He never once asked how I felt about my injuries, or whether the damage to my face might upset me. All he did was make excuses for her.

I looked at him, at the face I had loved for so many years, and suddenly it felt completely unfamiliar.

Tears slipped down without warning.

"I'm not mad," I said quietly. "I just regret it. I shouldn't have been with you in the first place."

He froze, clearly caught off guard, and was just about to speak when his phone suddenly lit up.

When he saw the name on the screen, he quickly hid his expression. "I need to step out for a second. Get some rest. I'll be right back."

He left in a hurry.

I did not know why, but I found myself following him.

Through the slight crack of the stairwell door, I saw him sitting next to Silvia.

"Hey, don't blame yourself," he was saying softly. "She won't be mad. Isn't this how it always goes?"

Silvia punched him lightly. "If she can't even handle this, what's she going to do if she finds out that you only pursued her because you lost a bet with us? And that the day you confessed was picked on purpose for April Fools' Day? She'd lose it."

Those words exploded in my ears.

A loud ringing noise drowned out everything else.

Nolan immediately covered her mouth and glanced around nervously. "Shh! That was ages ago. Forget it and keep it to yourself."

My legs gave out, It felt like all the bones had been pulled out of my body. I could not even stand.

All the confusion that had haunted me for so long finally had an answer.

Why, whenever it came down to choosing, I was never the one he chose.

Why, even though he said he loved me, he always allowed her to hurt me.

I had been stupid enough to think he just valued his friendship.

I had never imagined that everything he gave me was a lie.

Even the moment I thought had saved me, the beginning I held onto so tightly, had been built on deception.

So that was the truth. From their point of view, I had never been Nolan's girlfriend. I was just a joke, a clown they could play with whenever they wanted.

At that moment, whatever dignity I had left was shattered completely.

I pressed my trembling lips shut with all my strength.

I had to leave. Leave this, this suffocating, fake world behind.

I took a taxi back to the hotel, grabbed my luggage, and headed straight to the train station, where I switched to the earliest train to the city where the headquarters was located.

Right before boarding, my phone lit up with a message from Nolan.

[The doctor said you still need observation. Don't go running around. Where are you? I'll come find you.]

I stared at the message and let out a laugh that turned into tears.

I did not reply. Instead, I blocked and deleted his contact, along with every one of his friends.

'Nolan. Your April Fools' game ends here. I'm done playing.' I told myself that silently.